Al Qaeda's net messengers of hate

Telegraph:

One of al-Qa'eda's most influential cyber-terrorists, who used the internet to distribute images of beheadings and jihadist propaganda, ran his operation from a top-floor flat in Shepherd's Bush, west London.

The case of Younis Tsouli, 23, is being used by anti-terror chiefs around the world to illustrate the threat from Muslim fundamentalist terror groups on the web.

Tsouli, who was convicted and jailed last year, never became physically involved in terrorist attacks, although he has been linked with Islamic terrorists across the globe.

Described by police as an internet "anorak", he used all the IT skills that he gained from a western education to peddle hatred and messages of violence online.

Police found evidence that he hosted an internet chatroom in which one participant claimed to represent 45 Muslim doctors in America who wanted to launch a car bomb attack at a naval base.

He received a message from one user in February 2005 that read: "We are 45 doctors and we are determined to undertake jihad and take the battle inside America.

"The first target which will be penetrated by nine brothers is the naval base which gives shelter to the ship Kennedy."

This was thought to refer to the aircraft carrier John F Kennedy at Mayport naval base in Jacksonville, Florida.

Under the name Irhabi 007 - combining the Arabic term for terrorist with a reference to James Bond - Tsouli worked with al-Qa'eda leaders in Iraq.

He came up with a way to convert often gruesome videos into a form that could be put on to the internet.

He posted messages including those from Osama bin Laden as well as images of the kidnapping and murder of hostages in Iraq.

His capture led to the arrest of several Islamic terrorists around the world, including 17 men in Canada and two in the US.

Associates linked to Tsouli in Britain have also been detained.

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He is the son of a Moroccan diplomat and learned his trade in the UK. He is now serving a 16 year sentence for inciting terrorist murder. His arrest answered one of the mysteries of how al Qaeda distributed its PR/terror videos. While Zarqawi and other al Qaeda leaders had their own studio, apparently Tsouli was on the distribution end. Shutting down his operation helped defeat al Qaeda's strategy of using the media for making war.